Market Ahead, October 22: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

A host of factors, including corporate earnings, global cues, and stock-specific action will dictate the market trajectory today. 

Infosys will be the stock to watch out for. The IT major saw its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange sink by 16 per cent, after the revelation that a group describing itself as ‘whistle-blower staffers’ had accused the management of hiding the true financial picture. A similar fate may be waiting for the stock in domestic markets today.

Markets resume trading today after an extended weekend and investors will react to and corporate results announced in the interim. 

This includes Reliance Industries which reported a 14.1 per cent rise in its consolidated profit before tax at Rs 15,055 crore for the September quarter of 2019-20, following a robust growth in the retail and digital service businesses. 

In another major result, private sector lender HDFC Bank reported a 17.47 per cent rise in its profit before tax for the quarter, riding on healthy loan book growth and other income. Net profit (after tax) rose about 27 per cent to Rs 6,345 crore, meeting analysts’ expectations.

A total of 74 companies, including Asian Paints, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Finance, are scheduled to announce their September quarter results today.

Another factor that may do investor sentiment some good is the exit polls for the recently-concluded Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls that predicted a return of Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments in both the states. And although the votes will be counted on Thursday, the prospect of the same government continuing in both parties may be seen favourably by investors.

Globally, U.S. President Donald Trump praised efforts to end the U.S.-China dispute, while White House adviser Larry Kudlow said tariffs scheduled for December could be withdrawn if talks go well.

In Britain, the parliament’s speaker refused to allow a vote on Boris Johnson’s divorce deal with the European Union, suggesting the British prime minister faces further problems in Brexit ratification.

Trends on SGX Nifty suggest a negative start to the domestic markets today. At 7:20 AM, the SGX Nifty was trading 55 points lower at 11,643 levels.

Wall Street edged ahead on Tuesday amid cheery chatter about the chance of a Sino-U.S. trade deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9 per cent.

Asian share markets also climbed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added a slight 0.13 per cent. Japan's Nikkei were trading flat at 22,700 while South Korean stocks rose 0.4 per cent

In commodities, oil prices were near flat with Brent crude futures inching up 7 cents to $59.03.